Indians and Equal Protection

This article analyzes the recent Indian equal protection cases in an attempt to formulate the equal protection doctrine as applied to Indians, to examine the theoretical foundation for that doctrine, and to indicate how that doctrine will likely be applied in situations not yet addressed by the courts

Indians and Equal Protection

This article analyzes the recent Indian equal protection cases in an attempt to formulate the equal protection doctrine as applied to Indians, to examine the theoretical foundation for that doctrine, and to indicate how that doctrine will likely be applied in situations not yet addressed by the courts

PhyloDetect: a likelihood-based strategy for detecting microorganisms with diagnostic microarrays

Motivation: Detection and identification of microbes using diagnostic arrays is still subject of ongoing research. Existing significance-based algorithms consider an organism detected even if a significant number of the microarray probes that match the organism are called absent in a hybridization. Further, they do generate redundant results if the target organisms show high sequence similarity and the microarray probes cannot discriminate all of them. Results: We propose a new analysis strategy that considers organism similarities and calls organisms only present if the probes that match the organism but are absent in a hybridization can be explained by random events. In our strategy, we first identify the groups of target organisms that are actually distinguishable by the array. Subsequently, these organism groups are placed in a hierarchical tree such that groups matching only less specific probes are closer to the tree root, and groups that are discriminated only by few probes are close to each other. Finally, we compute for each group a likelihood score that is based on a hypothesis test with the null hypothesis that the group was actually present in the hybridized sample. We have validated our strategy using datasets from two different array types and implemented it as an easy-to-use web application. Availability: http://www.fgcz.ethz.ch/PhyloDetect Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: Example data is available at http://www.fgcz.ethz.ch/PhyloDetec

Renal Tubular Function in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Renal function is commonly assessed by measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). However, defects in tubular function may still exist in the presence of a normal GFR. In 12 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 6 of whom had previously been shown to have renal impairment, glomerular and tubular function were studied separately. In 4 patients, all parameters of renal function tested were normal. Impaired tubular function was found in 8 of the 12 patients, including 5 with normal GFR. Defects were noted in the ability to acidify urine in 7 patients and tubular reabsorption of phosphate was reduced in 2. A poor correlation was noted between the presence of renal tubular acidosis and the serum y-globulin level. The pathogenesis of the defect in urinary acidification in SLE and its prognostic significance are discussed.S. Afr. Med. J., 47, 132 (1973)

A neuroanatomical dissociation for emotion induced by music

Does feeling an emotion require changes in autonomic responses, as William James proposed? Can feelings and autonomic responses be dissociated? Findings from cognitive neuroscience have identified brain structures that subserve feelings and autonomic response, including those induced by emotional music. In the study reported here, we explored whether feelings and autonomic responses can be dissociated by using music, a stimulus that has a strong capacity to induce emotional experiences. We tested two brain regions predicted to be differentially involved in autonomic responsivity (the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) and feeling (the right somatosensory cortex). Patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex were impaired in their ability to generate skin-conductance responses to music, but generated normal judgments of their subjective feelings in response to music. Conversely, patients with damage to the right somatosensory cortex were impaired in their self-rated feelings in response to music, but generated normal skin-conductance responses to music. Control tasks suggested that neither impairment was due to basic defects in hearing the music or in cognitively recognizing the intended emotion of the music. The findings provide evidence for a double dissociation between feeling emotions and autonomic responses to emotions, in response to music stimuli

Revitalizing the Study of Self-Directed Adult Learning

Self-directed learning has been an important research area in adult education for the past three decades, and holds much potential for future scholarship. Three areas for possible future inquiry are examined

Neutrophil survival on biomaterials is determined by surface topography

AbstractPurpose: Cardiovascular device-centered infections are a major cause of hospital morbidity, mortality, and expense. Caused by opportunistic bacteria, this phenomenon is thought to arise because of a defect in neutrophil bacterial killing. We have shown that neutrophils that adhere to polystyrene remain viable, whereas neutrophils that adhere to the vascular biomaterials expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) and Dacron undergo a rapid nonapoptotic death. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that surface topography is a determinant of the nonapoptotic death response of neutrophils to biomaterials. Methods: We took advantage of the ease with which a polystyrene surface can be manipulated to examine the effect of surface topography on neutrophil viability. Neutrophils were exposed to smooth or roughened polystyrene surfaces both in vivo and in vitro. Changes in cell membrane permeability and production of reactive oxygen species by individual cells were monitored with fluorescent dyes. Results: Host cells and isolated human neutrophils died rapidly after adhesion to roughened polystyrene. Neutrophils adherent to roughened surfaces produced more reactive oxygen intermediates than those adherent to smooth surfaces and were first to die. The cell death response precipitated by expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, Dacron, or the roughened surfaces was significantly reduced with treatment of the neutrophils with catalase, diphenylene iodonium, or the src kinase inhibitor PP2 before adhesion. Conclusions: Neutrophil adhesion to roughened materials triggers rapid production of reactive oxygen species and precipitates a nonapoptotic cell death. Understanding the material properties that trigger these responses is essential to development of the next generation of implantable biomaterials. (J Vasc Surg 2003;37:1082-90.

Review Article: Integrins, selectins and CAMs - the 'glue of life'

No Abstrac

Corporate Panel—Chapter 11 Cramdown Interest Rates: Till, Momentive, and the Proper Valuation Method

The Corporate Panel debated the appropriate way to determine chapter 11 cramdown interest rates